Hubert Howe Bancroft (May 5, 1832–1918), an American historical writer and ethnologist, was born at Granville, Ohio. He attended the Granville Academy until sixteen years of age and was a clerk in a bookstore in Buffalo, New York. Relocating to San Francisco, California, he ran a bookstore from March 1852 to 1868, and also started his own publishing house. During this period he accumulated a great library of historical material, and eventually gave up business in order to devote himself to writing and publishing history. May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Granville is a village located in Licking County, Ohio. ... Official website: Buffalo, NY Location Location of Buffalo in New York State Government County Erie County Mayor Byron Brown Geographical characteristics Area Total 136. ... For details about the famous earthquake, refer to the article 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. ...

In 1885 Bancroft purchased a ranch and adobe in Spring Valley, in San Diego County, as a retirement home. It is now designated as a National Historic Landmark. Bancroft is interred in the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California. The Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley is named in his honor. Spring Valley is a census-designated place located in San Diego County, California. ... USS Constitution. ... Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, established by Hamden Holmes Noble in 1892, is a cemetery located in Colma, California, a place known as the City of the Silent. It is the final resting site for several members of the celebrated Hearst family plus other prominent citizens from the San Francisco area... Colma is a small town in San Mateo County, California, at the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula next to Daly City and South San Francisco. ... The Bancroft Library, located at the University of California, Berkeley, was founded in 1905 with the acquisition of Hubert Howe Bancrofts collection and named in his honor. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as Cal, UC Berkeley, UCB, or simply Berkeley) is a prestigious, public, coeducational university situated in the foothills of Berkeley, California to the east of San Francisco Bay, overlooking the Golden Gate and its bridge. ...

Critique of production methods

Bancroft produced a conspicuous group of local histories. Having formed a large collection of materials on the history of the Pacific coast, he employed research and writing assistants to organize and produce statements of facts for large sections of the proposed history. Originally he seems to have intended to use these statements as the basis of a narrative from his own hand; but as the work progressed he came to use them with slight changes. He stated that these assistants were capable investigators, and there is independent evidence to show that some of them deserved his confidence. However, his failure to acknowledge each contribution created doubt concerning the value of any particular section. Overall, although Bancroft considered himself the author of the work, it is more accurate to consider him an editor and compiler.

Neither Bancroft, nor most of his assistants, had the preliminary training to save them from pitfalls common to historical works of this period. Their writing reflected personal opinions and enthusiasms and their good books consequently have some serious defects. However, they were generally very well received for their time. Historian Francis Parkman gave The Native Races high credit in The North American Review. Andrew Carnegie related in his autobiography that Bancroft's "History of the United States" was a book he had "studied with more care than any other book I had then read." Lewis H. Morgan, however, was more critical. Based on his newly published theory of Indian culture, in an article called Montezuma's Dinner, Morgan completely reversed Parkman's verdict and raised doubt in the minds of the public on this and other volumes of the series. Bancroft's response to Morgan's criticism suggests that he did not understand Morgan's theory, now generally accepted by scholars. Francis Parkman Francis Parkman (September 16, 1823 – November 8, 1893) was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts. ... First issue of the North American Review with signature of its editor William Tudor (1779-1830). ... Andrew Carnegie (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American businessman, a major philanthropist, and the founder of the Carnegie Steel Company which later became U.S. Steel. ... Lewis H. Morgan Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) was an American ethnologist, anthropologist and writer. ...

Published works

• Native Races of the Pacific States (vols. 1–5, 1874)
• History of Central America (vols. 6–8, 1883–87)
• History of Mexico (vols. 9–14, 1883–87)
• History of the Northern Mexican States and Texas (vols. 15–16, 1884–89)
• History of Arizona and New Mexico (vol. 17, 1889)
• History of California (vols. 18–24, 1884–90)
• History of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming (vol. 25, 1890)
• History of Utah (vol. 26, 1889)
• History of the North-West Coast (vols. 27–28, 1884)
• History of Oregon (vols. 29–30, 1886–88)
• History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana (vol. 31, 1890)
• History of British Columbia (vol. 32, 1887)
• History of Alaska (vol. 33, 1886)
• California Pastorals (vol. 34, 1888)
• California inter Pocula (vol. 35, 1888)
• Popular Tribunals (vols. 36–37, 1887)
• Essays and Miscellany (vol. 38, 1890)
• Literary Industries (vol. 39, 1890).
• Book of the Fair
• Book of Wealth
• Resources of Mexico
• The New Pacific

External links

• Some Cities and San Francisco and Resurgam
• Works by Hubert Howe Bancroft at Project Gutenberg
• The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft: Currently Vols. 1 through 39
• The Online Books Page: Bancroft, Hubert Howe

Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...

Sources

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21) (VOLUME XVII. Later National Literature, Part II: XV. Later Historians: § 27. Hubert Howe Bancroft.)